5 Blazers trade candidates entering 2024-25 season

11/02/2024 05:59 PM

The Portland Trail Blazers have scuffled to a 2-4 start in the early going of the 2024 season, and if their miserable 36-point blowout loss in the opener was any indication, things could get a lot worse before they get better. The Blazers will be active at the deadline, and Anfernee Simons along with three other players are likely trade candidates.

Why would the Blazers deal talented players when they need to improve desperately? The reality is that the Blazers should be expected to look toward the future at the trade deadline, dealing away players who won't be part of their future core and adding players who can be assets in the future. A good player who can compete now would have more value to a contender than he would for a team that is still two or three years away.

Anfernee Simons

Anfernee Simons is probably the player who will attract the most interest from other teams this season. The 26-year-old guard may not be in the Blazers' long-term plans, and that isn't a closely held secret throughout the league. After the additions of Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe through the draft process in recent years, there just may not be a place for Simons in the team's long-term plans.

With that being said, though, Simons is an incredibly gifted guard in terms of both scoring and playmaking. He's a lethal shooter who can create separation with ease through crossovers, stepbacks, fadeaways, sidesteps and other moves, while also boasting the speed, craftiness and athleticism to leave his defenders in the dust and get past them to the rim.

Simons will fetch a pretty penny on the trade market, there is plenty of demand for his services across the league, he's young enough to be part of his new team's core while being mature and experienced enough to contribute immediately, and the Blazers seem to have shifted their long-term plans away from Simons. Sounds to me like the perfect trade candidate.

Scoot Henderson

Henderson is a young guard and a potential star in the making if he can put everything together. So, in what world would the Blazers consider trading him? Every player ultimately has a swing skill. This typically refers to a trait that will make or break the player’s success at the next level, depending on if they are able to maximize that ability or not.

Henderson is already in the upper tier of NBA athletes, and in terms of his physical talent, he's already elite. However, his swing skill is going to be his outside shooting. The league has trended toward players who can shoot thanks in large part to the success Steph Curry and Klay Thompson enjoyed during the 2010s with the Golden State Warriors. It's fair to say that Curry and the Warriors revolutionized the game of basketball and changed the way in which the sport is played forever.

It was common in decades past for teams to have one or two players who specialize in shooting from beyond the arc, and for everybody else, a shooting percentage in the low to mid-30s on moderate volume was good enough. Not anymore. Now, if you are a guard or wing shooting anything less than 37% on high volume, it's going to be an uphill battle to be a difference-maker in the modern NBA.

Deandre Ayton

It may feel like Ayton has been around forever, but it's important to remember that he's actually just 26 years old. In theory, the veteran big man should just be entering the prime of his career.

There are plenty of things to like about Ayton's game, and he has considerable room to continue growing as well. Ayton is effective if somewhat inconsistent defensively, and he is a threat to score at all three levels on the offensive end.

Ayton has upside and should still command at least a moderate, if not a significant, return on the open market, and the lack of impactful big men could give the Blazers leverage to demand a premium in any deal.

Matisse Thybulle and Robert Williams III

Thybulle and Williams are two moderately talented players who may not be well-rounded overall but who each have specific skillsets that they excel in. Additionally, both players are on affordable salaries that won't be a dealbreaker to potential suitors, but would actually serve as useful salary-matching pieces.

These two names just feel like the type of player and contract who is tacked on to a trade at the deadline as the final piece of the puzzle to make all the pieces fit and get the deal across the finish line.

For Thybulle, it's his defense. The former Philadelphia 76ers' wing hasn't made the progress scouts were looking for as a shooter, but he is an extremely disruptive defender who can shut down his primary assignment while also wreaking havoc in the passing lanes.

For Williams, he is a strong, physical player who can muscle up and fight in the paint with anybody. Williams is a versatile defender who will gobble up rebounds and he can consistently finish opportunities at the offensive end. He also has room to grow as a scorer and playmaker, and could have significant untapped potential.

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